What would you do to help a new prior service soldier who came straight from MEPS to AIT without uniforms?

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 11:24:25 -0400

So, I have never seen this happen before but a prior service marine is now a Solider and came to AIT without any uniforms what so ever. I heard he had no break in service and came straight to AIT from MEPS. I don’t know if he is Guard or Active. He is not my Solider and I’m sure he is being take care of by the command but what would someone do to help him in his situation?

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 28 at 2019 11:29 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 11:29:13 -0400

I would ask how long a break in service did you have, if he is a former Marine he would not have army uniforms

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 28 at 2019 11:31 AM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 11:31:40 -0400

That's a new one. Clearly he can't wear USMC uniforms anymore. Unless the AIT Company Supply can hook him up or CIF, he may very well have to get to C&S as soon as possible to purchase the items needed.

Response by CPL Todd Hinkle made Mar 28 at 2019 11:32 AM

CPL Todd Hinkle — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 11:32:48 -0400

Knew a guy who was prior enlisted and rejoined who came back with no uniforms. Just had to take him to put in the order and they had him some in hand pretty quickly.

Response by SSG Laurie Mullen made Mar 28 at 2019 11:38 AM

SSG Laurie Mullen — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 11:38:15 -0400

I saw this happen at Ft Gordon back in the 80s. I don't know how the prior service soldiers got the money, but they were sent to Clothing Sales with an inventory sheet to purchase issue items. This was done while they were at the reception unit during in-processing.

Response by SSgt Terry P. made Mar 28 at 2019 11:38 AM

SSgt Terry P. — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 11:38:28 -0400

SFC Private RallyPoint Member As SSG Private RallyPoint Member pointed out --the Marine would not have required uniforms for Army service and would be out of uniform with any he still had--Marine "utilities" and Army are not the same just as the dress is not.
Just my opinion,but the only "help" you could offer is to get him an issue of the required Army clothing.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 28 at 2019 12:04 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 12:04:20 -0400

If you are prior service from the Army, and you I'm back on active duty while you still owe time on your military service obligation oh, you are required to retain your initial issue. That is a length of 8 years.
If the person came from another branch, had a break in service, or separated without owing any MSO, the MEPS will give them a memo authorizing and initial issue to be drawn from the local clothing and sales.
I was a transfer from the National Guard and I received a memo for initial issue

Response by LCDR Joshua Gillespie made Mar 28 at 2019 12:45 PM

LCDR Joshua Gillespie — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 12:45:59 -0400

I can't do better than the excellent posts below-SFC Boyd bringing the good knowledge straight as per usual.

I'd only add that while these process are attempted, maybe someone in his peer group can help a brother out. I once had all my gear lost in an Italian airport, and had to borrow some stuff from a shipmate of similar size to report aboard. Took about a week to get my seabag back, and I'd looked better, but at least I wasn't in the shorts/shirt/flip flops I arrived in. I've also seen people take advantage of the MWR (I'm sure the Army has an equivalent) thrift store...sometimes folks let stuff go that's good enough to get by that can be had dirt cheap. Probably a lot harder these days with every Tom, Dick and Harry trying to get their hands on OCP for Airsoft and other nefarious schemes...but it's worth a shot.

Yeah-name tapes; that's a tough one I don't have a good answer for. Yet another curse of the velcro revolution.

Response by MAJ Javier Rivera made Mar 28 at 2019 12:51 PM

MAJ Javier Rivera — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 12:51:14 -0400

As part of his inprocess he ought to get a new basic clothing bag issued to him.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Mar 28 at 2019 1:47 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 13:47:48 -0400

I believe you can fix this by going to Finance for him to get his initial clothing allowance which will be around $1600.

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 28 at 2019 4:54 PM

WO1 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 16:54:45 -0400

I have not seen this particular situation, as I'm sure it's pretty rare, but I have experienced something similar. Back in 2015, I PCS'd to Fort Drum during my unit's deployment, so as you imagine, VERY short on personnel for Rear-D. During this time, we received a prior service PFC who went AWOL in the 90s. This guy was in his 40s, and had been working as a truck driver between Mexico and Texas. He was arrested at the border and brought to us at Drum to basically in-process him back into the Army, and then immediately chapter him back out. When he arrived, he literally had nothing at all; no equipment or uniforms. Several of us donated old ACUs and PTs, and even some Multi-Cam tops and bottoms from deployments. We initially tried to get donations from local GI shops, but all declined. I'm sure there are better answers, but this is one of my proudest experiences in the Army because NCOs came together as a Team to solve another guy's problem. Bottom line, there's always a way around a problem, a lot of times it only takes compassion to get to the solution.

Response by SSG Brian G. made Mar 28 at 2019 5:35 PM

SSG Brian G. — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 17:35:07 -0400

MEPS may have dropped the ball, then again they may have included orders for his gaining AIT unit in-processing to allot him a clothing allowance. Marine issue is different from Army issue so he should receive a full complete new issue upon reason his AIT station and they should have a fully stocked clothing sales able to accomodate this.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 28 at 2019 6:10 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 18:10:21 -0400

I did have a break in service, and when I came back in, they put us into a sort of holding-pattern for a week or so during which I think (this is a long time ago) they gave us a whole new issue (even though I showed up with most of what I needed). During that time they had a building for us to stay in. They didn't merge us into a class until we finished that.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 28 at 2019 6:58 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 18:58:36 -0400

So I came from the Marines to Army with zero uniforms and zero knowledge lol

Linked up with a dude on FB in a military group, he was the first guy I talked to when I signed in. he got me a uniform chit as soon as I got there took me to clothing sales and everything got taken care of.

Response by MSgt Chris Haggerty made Apr 2 at 2019 9:52 PM

MSgt Chris Haggerty — Tue, 02 Apr 2019 21:52:46 -0400

Best advice I can give is to get him over to the First Sergeant. In my experience, a 1stSgt can handle this in one or two phone calls. The LAST thing ANY 1stSgt wants is some prior running around in civvies or borrowed utilities.